Tuesday, January 22, 2013

The Wings look to add to the success they found in Columbus and bring home a win in Detroit's home opener this evening, when the Red Wings face off against the Dallas Stars. After a terrible start in St. Louis, Detroit battled hard for a win against the BlueJackets, coming out on top by way of a shootout victory thanks to Swiss star Damien Brunner. Now sitting at 1-1-0, the Wings need to keep the momentum going, despite a rash of injuries that is plaguing their roster.

Detroit's opponent tonight, the Dallas Stars, have managed the same start, just in reverse order of the Red Wings. Having claimed victory in their home opener against the Coyotes, the Stars went to Minnesota and came away with nothing, losing to the Wild 1-0.

It will be interesting to see now, after one terrible game and one not-so-terrible game, how Detroit's defence holds up against the Stars, including the newest addition to the Detroit blueline, Kent Huskins. Huskins was brought in to shore up the defenses after Jonathan Ericsson and Carlo Colaiacovo both were lost to injury. It was hoped that Huskins would be ready to jump in for tonight's match.

They will be dealing with the likes of Loui Eriksson, Ray Whitney, and newly acquired star Jaromir Jagr, who seems to be set to continue his age-defying play as he already leads the Dallas Stars with 4 points.

Which Red Wings squad will show up tonight: The scrappy, tenacious team that took a win by tooth and nail, or the sloppy, lethargic team that looked out of its league in St. Louis? If Detroit realizes how important these early games are, the answer should be obvious.